Laurie's World

As much as I would like to start right in on Luang Prabang….I will do this in order and go back to this morning when we were still in Chiang Mai…

We started the day bright and early getting up at 9am…which squashed our plans of going over to the Raming Lodge for their big buffet breakfast…so we stayed at our own hotel and had eggs on toast (again!!) I am not complaining….the eggs are very good here : )

We then packed up and put our stuff in storage and started the walk over to Sopa’s for one last massage : (((

Wan was not there….but the other girls were very good to us and I think we got VIP treatment as we did not get out until 12:20…

We did not have time for a last lunch at Ginny Cafe now (as we need to be at airport by 1pm)…but we did stop by and say good bye to Tee and Ian…

So we go back to the de Rachemanka and pick up our bags and grab a songtao to the airport! No turning back on the adventure now!! Luckily we had a few minutes to grab a special frosty treat from DQ (international company that it is!)

The flight is reasonably uneventful other than there were no less than 10 other Canadians on the plane….and other than three girls traveling together and one couple….none of them knew each other….I figured out one couple when I saw he had a Toronto Blue Jays cap and a maple leaf on his bag…so I asked them…then a few more peeked up when they heard us talking…then one more joined in when he heard (and he got out HIS blue jay cap) then when we get on the plane and another surfaces…..other than us 2 westerners, they were all from Ontario and weirder yet, three of them were lawyers! 2 had just finished articling and are on their 3 month gap between articles and employment and the third is starting his articling in August. Wow right! So worried that if something happens to the plane this will Most certainly make the news in Canada! But as you are reading this now….you can tell nothing happened to the plane ; )

Here we are coming into the Luang Prabang international airport. Some glare off the window…but you can hopefully see how mountainous it is!

Here is the airport…..not quite SeaTac….but maybe someday ; )

Here is our plane…apparently LaoAir used to not be a recommended Air
Line…but we felt great in this plane…quite a bit of turbulence….but that isn’t the plane’s fault.

Immigration was an ordeal….but we are used to that…many steps…just pass along the money and all is good. Found it curious we had to pay $42 as Canadians whereas Americans pay $35!! We are neighbors after all….

Here is the obligatory self portrait on the shuttle from plane to airport…gotta squeeze that in ; )
You can see what Troy thinks of this….

Ok…so funny story…the Laos currency is one of those super inflated currencies…where 8,000 kip equals $1 USD. So we go to the ATM to get cash at the airport and there we all are….the whole pack of Canadians trying to figure out how much we need and having high anxiety typing one million into the machine (which is only $123 USD) but let me tell you it feels weird! Anyway 2 of the lawyers whipped out their iPhones with currency converter apps and double checked it….so we all went ahead and did it….here is my millionaire husband! Yeah we took a picture….only time we will ever be millionaires (sad it has to be kip not dollars ; )

So we share a ride into town with one of the Canadians (go figure) they charge 50,000 kip flat rate to get to town from airport maximum 3 persons. So seems silly not to let one of the singles ride in what we believe will be a little tuk. Hahahahahahahaha….no! He walks us out to a 10 seater air con mini van…but 3 person max!! I guess it is an employment stimulus program….keeps more drivers employed! If they filled the van, then only 3 people work….if they cap it…. 20 people get work?? I dunno….but we have seen weirder things here in SE Asia!

So we get to our hotel and we are SO pleased! We are staying at the Saynamkhan Hotel. I got a river view room so as to guarantee a nice view. But bonus! We have our own private balcony!! Love it!! And there is a kettle….so guess who is going to be up drinking coffee and playing words in the morning on the balcony with her own cup of Jo?? I am so excited!!

Girls….everyone enjoyed posing for the picture with the swans….look at those towels! I hate to break them up!!

We went out walking after we got here to explore a bit and in honour of my funny signs tribute….this one got my attention. I must note that the first picture (of the sign) is just tacked to a tree on the riverside (Mekong river). Then the next photo is directly below the sign…I will say no more…other than maybe “how bad would it be if the sign wasn’t there encouraging folks”??

We had some loose plans with the Canadian crowd to meet up at a bar/restaurant called Utopia later in evening….so to us, that means 7pm….so we trot ourselves down to Utopia around 7pm. We don’t see anyone we recognize…but that’s ok….we go ahead and order fruit shakes and lemonade and then our supper….by now the sun has set and it is pretty much completely dark and we have no idea if our crowd has surfaced at all….the lighting at this place was sub-par at best…but it was way cool! It faced the river and was all these little nooks and crannies with little tables out of rocks or tree stumps. Hard to describe….we might try to go back in the day time and take pictures. They have morning yoga apparently….so might think about that…anyway here is a picture of us on the bamboo patio thing with mats. Very comfy actually….more comfy than the table me ended up moving to when our food came. It looks out over the river….no railing or anything….apparently only 2 people have ever gone over….

As we are inclined to do these days….we talk to strangers…and we ended up starting a conversation with the owner….and believe it or not he is CANADIAN! So did we ever have lots to talk about….he is an engineer who has a keen interest I business….he refers to this place he runs as a “business experiment”! But I would say it is going very well….the place was really starting to bump by the time we were leaving. Did a quick look around for the other Canuck crowd we we expecting but did not see them….so we started the walk home….lo and behold who do we see coming down the lane but 3 of the group….they had waited until after dark to start the walk and they got lost…no sign of the rest of the group….but I hope they found it bcz it was quite a place!!

I think that’s all for now….just know that we are safe and sound and having a blast….and I think I LOVE this place!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2012 at 7:42 am and is filed under Thailand 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.